Golf-ball.



L. T. PETERSEN.

GOLF BALL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB,2I, 191s.

Patented May 30, 1916.

mwmtoz En s'ra'rEs m ma orurc LUnvIG 'r. rET BsEN, or YoUNGsrowm-omoQ IGOLF-BALL.

specification bf Letters Patent.

r PatentedM'ay so, ma,

Application filed February 21, 1916. Serial N 0. 79,648.

To all whom it. may concern Be it known that I, LUDVIG a citizen of thevUnited States, residing at Youngstown, inthe county of Mahoning andState of Ohio, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements inGolf- Balls; and I do'herebydeclare the following to be afu1l,clea'r,,and exact description of the invention, such as;will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains t make and use thesame.

- My present invention relates to the manufacture of resilient balls,but has reference and adapted for use in playing the game of golf, orother games employing balls of' similar character. 7

In the manufacture of balls embodying this invention it should be.understood that balata-gum is largely used as a basic material, but at.the same time it should be then heated to restore its latentcontractile properties, and finally shaped under pressure into thedesired'form and surface configuration. It is also-understood bypersons-familiar with balata and similar gums of the gutta group, thatwhen sheeted orcalendered it is characterized by a grain run- 40 'ningparallel with the length of such sheets;

that it is stretchable at right angles to this grain but substantiallyinelastic when so stretched, and that after stretching, its con=tractile properties maybe restored by the application of heatthusrendering it'elastic. One object of the present inventionis toprovide balls for the use first above indi-" cated, and other uses,possessing unusual strength and durability, a high degree of resiliency,true spherical form, uniformity and'compactness of structure, accuratebalastic properties, and a confined homogeneous internal strain. l Afurther object ofthe invention isthe production of over wound orbuilt-up core more especially to balls which are designed less, seamlessand resilient balllbodies, hav T. PETERSEN, Y

ing retaining covers also of seamless and.

resilient material, capable of resisting and safely confining theexpansive pressure, or homogeneou's'strain of the within contained ball-body, and-at the same time capable of instantly recovering normalspherical form I after momentary distortion caused by the blow of a.golf stick, or by other means.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent topersons skilled in the art to which it relates, and the invention willbe hereinafter particularly described, and then pointe d out intheclaims following. H

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationfor'Letters Patent, and Whereon' like characters refer' to correspondingparts in the several views: Figure l is a transverse sectional View ofthe present invention taken centrally through a ball-body and the outercover thereof. Fig. 2 is aperspective view showing a ball-body in theprocess of formation.

Fig. 3 is also a perspective viewshowing a ball-body cut in half for thepurpose ofillustrating its inherent expansive properties, and the efiectthereof when not confined by an outer cover, and Fig. 4: is a sideelevation of acompleted golf ball, in this instance a bramble surfaceconfiguration having been shown for ex'aple.

'Reference'being had to the drawings and numerals thereon, 1 indicates alaminated strip, strips or pieces of sheeted balata and cured indiarubber, the latter 1 in unstretched condition being interposed between.two similar. strips of balata 1 1 during the process of calendering.After valternate sheets of balata rubber and balata havethusbeencalendered or rolled together into relatively thin sheets, it-iscustomary to. out said laminated sheets into strips at right angles tothe grain of said sheets.- In carrying out my present invention the saidlaminated strips comprising balatastrips 1,

1 and the interposed rubber strip 1*, arefirst stretched longitudinallyto practically the elastic limit of said balata strips, therebyrendering latent their inherent contractile qualities and placing theinterposed rubber strip 1* under tension. An exceedingly small nucleus 2isthereuponrolled at" one end of the first of-said laminated strips,

and upon this'as a center is built a 'coreless 11 I I balls, but itis'by no means necessary that it 5 shall take place at the time andstage of ball-body from a succession of strips or pieces 1, each beingfirst stretched as stated, and overwound one upon the other as indicatedin Fig. 2, until approximately the desired size, weight, and sphericalform has been produced. This accomplished the'ballbody is next subjectedto a milddegree of heat from any suitable source and by any suitablemeans, whereby the latent contractile quantities of the balata strips land 1 are excited, stimulated and restored, causing a radial expansionof the ball body in an outward direction, and rendering it as a whole,when confined within a suitable cover 3, peculiarly resilient andresponsive in long drives, and at the same time comparatively dead tolight delicate blows as in putting.

This restoration of the contractile proper ties of balata strips 1 1coacting with the elasticity of stretched rubber strips 1*,- isessential to the production of superior manufacture above indicated, onthe contrary the heating is equally effective, and in some instancesmore so, when applied at frequent intervals during the formation orwinding of the ball-body. 1

The body of my present ball'havi'ng'been thus built up from laminatedstrips of balata and rubber wound and overwound, crossed and recrossedas shown by Fig.- 2 of the drawings, is next incased within the outerseamless resilientcover 3 aforesaid, which by preference, is .made inlike manner as the ball-body from strips 1 applied andtreated asaforesaid. In case ofthe cover 3, however, the balata employed should berefined to extract its naturally dark color, and prepare it for finalcoloring, the same being trueof gutta-percha or celluloid when used asan outer casing.

Ball-body and cover, the latter of any suitable material, having beenproduced substantially as aboveindicated and of substantiallyspherical'form, are next subjected topressure in suitable molds heatedto rencover to set before removal from the mold, after which it isfinally coated or colored in thewell understood manner.

The foregoing is a description of my pres- 'ent invention-in its bestform of embodiment at present known to me, but at the same time itshould be understood that I by no means lim t myself to the particularar- The completed ball I is then permitted to cool slowly, anditsrelation with cured rubber as a base.

Stretching such balata or like material to first render its contractileproperties latent, overwinding such laminated strips including balata orlike materials, into substantially spherical form, and heating either atintervals in the course of winding, or after practically all strips havebeen applied, to stimulate or restore the latent contractile propertiesof the balata or like materials, thereby producing a cumulative internalpressure. 7

In conclusion, it may be noted that balls made according to the presentinvention have been found more satisfactory andefii cient than ballsmade from balata only, for the reason that when supported and backed byan elastic material such as cured rubber l the laminated strips ofbalata 1 are capable of being drawn or calendered much thinner thanwould be possible if unsupported, and as a consequence this has beenfound to materially increase the contractility of the said balatastrips, and proportionally increase the internal pressure of theball-body when subjected to heat substantially as shown and described.

Having thus described my present invention, what I now claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture a resilient ball-body made fromoverwound strips of cured rubber under tension and previously stretchedbalata in which latter the contractile qualities rendered latent bystretching have been restored after winding. 2. As an article ofmanufacture a resilient ball made from overwound strips of cured rubberunder tension and previously stretched balata in which latter the contractile qualities rendered latent by stretching have been restoredsubsequent to winding, in combination with a ball cover of likematerials. r I

3. As an article of manufacture a resilient ball-body made ofalternatestrips of cured rubber under tension and previously stretchedbalata in' which latter the contractile qualities rendered latent bystretching have been restored after winding.

4. As an article of manufacture a resilient ball made of laminatedstrips which comprise cured rubberunder tension and previously stretched.balata in which latter the contractile qualities rendered latent bystretching have been restored after winding.

5. As an article of manufacture a resilient ball made of overwoundstrips of cured rubber laminated with corresponding strips of previouslystretched balata in which latstretching have beenrestored subsequent toter the contractile qualities rendered latent winding.

' 10 by stretching have been restored subsequent In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature,

to winding. in presence of two subscribing witnesses. 6. A golf ballmade from overwound com- LUDVIG T. PETERSEN.

. posite strips of cured rubber and balata un- Witnesses.

der tension in which strips the contractile WM. E. DYRE,

qualities of the balata rendered latent by WALLACE DUNN.

